sun, sand, and summer

introduction

"Evelyn! Belly's here!" my mom shouted from across the house.

"Coming, coming..." I was struggling to zip up my suitcase. Really, I already knew that the Conklins were here, as I had been looking out my window every other minute while throwing things in my suitcase. I had packed last night, but I tend to overpack for weekend trips, let alone a whole summer.

My best friend, Isabel (Belly) Conklin had invited me to her infamous summer house. I felt like I had almost been there before, thanks to hours of FaceTime and seemingly endless stories about her perfect summers. However, this year, Belly had her heart set on me coming with them. After some convincing, my parents agreed, and of course Laurel was okay with it. However, while I had heard great things about the Fishers, and Belly said they were excited to meet me, I couldn't help but feel like an extra (ninth?) wheel.

Finally closing my overstuffed suitcase, I was nearly breaking a sweat. I jumped up and ran to the door, and after a hug from Belly and saying goodbye to my parents, we were off. Steven drove, with Laurel in the front and Belly and I camping out in the back. I could already tell something was different, with everyone more relaxed and smiling.

"Hey Jere!" Belly's voice startled me. I looked over and she had answered a facetime call from Jeremiah. Even though I felt like I knew everything about the Fishers by now, I was still scared to meet them. Jeremiah was the younger brother, one of Belly's best friends, and looked like a model from all the pictures I had seen. I always found myself a bit jealous that Belly got to hang out with hot boys at the beach all summer while I sat at home reading a book and looking at the pictures she sent. This summer, that was going to change.

I wouldn't complain about finding a summer love at Cousins, seeing as that was Belly's mission. She had liked Conrad Fisher her whole life, so he was off-limits, which was no problem. By the end of this summer, I would have them together for the sake of my mental health. It was draining hearing about Conrad all day every day, so I had some seriously high expectations for this dude.

"... okay, tell her I say hi! See you guys soon."

"See ya, Bells."

"Jere told me Susannah was at some event, so she won't be back till after we get there," Belly told her mom.

Laurel frowned, which seemed odd. "What event?"

"He didn't say. You are familiar with Jere's memory, right?"

Her mom smiled. "Fair enough."

After a couple hours of singing along to the radio, backseat whispers about the amazing Conrad Fisher, and two slushees later, we arrived.

I had butterflies in my stomach. A bad first impression wouldn't be great for the rest of my summer. I checked my makeup in my phone camera. Thankfully, my concealer made it through the car ride. Showing off my cystic acne to this family was not top on my summer to-do list, especially compared to Belly's crazy glow-up. As I move to open the car door, Steven honks the horn and I see someone run toward the car. Jeremiah Fisher. Wow, he looks even better in person.

Belly told me many times over why she likes Conrad, but never why she doesn't like Jeremiah. I always assumed that he was just inferior to his older brother in Belly's eyes. However, seeing him twirl her in the air, one thing became clear: Jeremiah Fisher was in love with Belly.

It didn't take a genius to figure it out; he looked at her like no boy had ever looked at me. It was the same way that Belly looked at Conrad walking toward us.